“Romanian artist Mihai Bara invites the viewer to look beyond his literal figural executions to the feelings that lie beneath. His neo-expressionist images transcend the constraints of line and form to explore the emotionality, tensions and inner experiences that lie beneath the figural façade. What results are compelling paintings full of color, texture, energy and movement. His masterful sense of composition only serves to add to the emotional depth of the paintings.

Using a mixed technique centered around acrylics on canvas combined with other media such as paper, string, textiles and sand, he infuses his works with an intensity and vigor that makes his characters come alive. Inspired by the diversity of his homeland inTransylvania, Bara infuses each figural composition with a cultural richness reflective of the greater world we share. Through his art, Bara offers up “a point of view based on a true emotion” inviting the viewer to “think more about themselves, about life, about how insignificant we are as individuals.”

Angela di Bello july 2011 New York